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Beauty for the Asking is a 1939 film drama produced by RKO Pictures, and starring Lucille Ball and Patric Knowles.

Beauty for the Asking
Directed by	Glenn Tryon
Written by	Doris Anderson and Paul Jarrico (screenplay) Edmund L. Hartmann (story) Grace Norton and Adele Buffington (idea)
Produced by	B. P. Fineman
Starring	Lucille Ball Patric Knowles Donald Woods Frieda Inescort
Cinematography	Frank Redman
Edited by	George Crone
Music by	Roy Webb
Production company	RKO Pictures
Release date	February 24, 1939 (1939-02-24)
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

It tells the story of Jean Russell (Ball), a beautician who is jilted by her boyfriend (Knowles) so he can marry an older but wealthy woman. Russell invents a new facial cream, and with the financial backing of her former boyfriend's wife (Frieda Inescort), starts a business that makes her a millionaire.

Reception

RKO's pre-release publicity claimed that the film was to be an "exposé of the beauty racket" but reviewers of the day concluded that it was a standard "romantic love triangle".[1]

Recently Leonard Maltin has written favorably of the film, suggesting that the film offered an unusual feminist viewpoint for its time, and acknowledging that Ball delivered a strong performance.[2]

Cast

• Lucille Ball as Jean Russell
• Patric Knowles as Denny Williams
• Donald Woods as Jeffrey Martin
• Frieda Inescort as Flora Barton-Williams
• Inez Courtney as Gwen Morrison
• Leona Maricle as Eve Harrington
• Frances Mercer as Patricia Wharton
• Whitney Bourne as Peggy Ponsby
• George Beranger as Cyril (as George Andre Beranger)
• Kay Sutton as Miss Whitman, Jean's Secretary
• Ann Evers as Lois Peabody

Notes

References

• Jewell, Richard B. and Harbin, Vernon, The RKO Story, Octopus Books, London, 1982. ISBN 0-7064-1285-0
• Maltin, Leonard, Leonard Maltin's 1998 Movie & Video Guide, Signet Books, 1997. ISBN 0-451-19288-5

External links

• Beauty for the Asking at IMDb
• Beauty for the Asking at the TCM Movie Database
• Beauty for the Asking at AllMovie
• Beauty for the Asking at the American Film Institute Catalog

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